WHAT MATTERS:
- FINALS UPDATE: The Big Bang Theory (4.5), Grey's Anatomy (2.8) and How to Get Away with Murder (3.1) all adjusted up. Mom (2.8) did not adjust down, so the new series high is official.
- ABC was back in business on Thursday in impressive fashion, as Grey's Anatomy (2.7) and Scandal (3.6) each saw double-digit spikes from their fall finales (and Scandal was two tenths above its winter premiere last season). If there was an an underachiever, it was How to Get Away with Murder (3.0), which was still at bonafide big hit levels but preliminarily didn't even make it back to the fall finale number.
- But Murder had a good reason for at least part of the relative softness; NBC got a sizable spike at 10/9c for the series finale of Parenthood (1.7). This was Parenthood's biggest rating in its two Thursday seasons, and it was a considerable four tenths above both last week's penultimate episode as well as last season's finale. NBC was also up in the first two hours with the two-hour The Biggest Loser finale (1.4). For a show that has historically had huge finale spikes, that's not much of an increase on last week's 1.2, but NBC will probably take it given the increased competition.
- Fox took sizable drops in week two of the pairing between American Idol (2.2) and Backstrom (1.4). Considering how much Idol was down, it probably could've been even worse than a 25%ish drop for Backstrom; it remained slightly ahead of the corresponding Rake episode. But the show still has another big competitor to deal with next week, and it's already at bubble levels at best.
- CBS brought back The Big Bang Theory (4.4), which was just barely below its last original three weeks ago. It appears it will knock off Wednesday's Empire (4.3) for the week's top (reguarly-scheduled) scripted episode. That helped vault Mom (2.8) to what could be another new series high if it holds in finals. Later in the night, Elementary (1.3) suffered a bit against increased drama competition.
Let's take a look at the fall 2014 season (the twenty-fifth overall) of
The Amazing Race on CBS.
To borrow a joke from last year, ABC sure is glad to get the bad
Taste out of its mouth. Tonight, the three-hour lineup of Shonda Rhimes-produced dramas known as "TGIT" is back on the air, and unlike last year (when they were held due to the Olympics) ABC gets to count the block in its February sweeps ratings. Since TGIT ended before Thanksgiving in 2014, though, the length of the hiatus was similar - just a week less than in the 2013-14 season. And these shows lost their "story of the season" status without even airing thanks to a Fox drama called
Empire. Will ABC be thankful for TGIT's return ratings? That's
The Question for Thursday, January 29, 2015.
WHAT MATTERS:
- FINALS UPDATE: It was officially the first week of decline for Empire (4.3), which did not adjust up in finals. Stalker (1.5) was down, putting it even week-to-week, and The 100 (0.5) took yet another finals downtick.
- Week four will likely go down as the first week of adults 18-49 non-growth for the new megahit Empire (4.3). The show matched last week's prelim (which later adjusted up to 4.4) so it may end up not being the first week of decline either. For what it's worth, the show was up a bit more in total viewership (to 11.3 million) and adults 18-34 (3.9).
- Fox had worse news in the 8/7c hour, where American Idol (2.9)
shed all of its significant spike from last week. It should
either hit or match the Wednesday low this season from two weeks ago,
and it'll be roughly 25% behind last season's fourth Wednesday.
- The only other big four network airing originals was CBS. While The Mentalist (1.3) was down at 8/7c, Criminal Minds (2.1) and Stalker (1.6) were each up a tick, perhaps benefiting from NBC's crime dramas going into repeats.
- The CW's Arrow (1.1) remained stout, while The 100 will sweat out the finals after another preliminary 0.6.
Let's take a look at the 2014-15 season (the fifth and final overall) of
Covert Affairs on USA.
WHAT MATTERS:
- FINALS UPDATE: MasterChef Junior (1.7) and Marry Me (0.8) were up. It was a bad set of finals for the CW, as The Flash (1.3) held at the new low and Supernatural (0.7) was down to a new season low of its own.
- Week three of ABC's Agent Carter (1.3) came back after a week off and dropped another two tenths, rating slightly below its repeat Shark Tank lead-in (1.4). This put it well below the low point of the show for which it's filling in, Agents of SHIELD.
- CBS continued to race through its order of CSI originals (1.6), and the show zoomed to a season high on a special night leading out of strong repeats from NCIS (1.6) and NCIS: New Orleans (1.6). It's still not exactly a huge accomplishment since the show had very minimal competition from repeats of Chicago Fire (0.8) and Forever (0.7), but it does help illustrate the difficulty of its usual Sunday slot.
- Elsewhere, The Flash (1.3) is eyeing another new low but will hope for the same upward adjustment it got last week, while Supernatural (0.8) was also below average. NBC and Fox saw small declines for their respective standouts Parks and Recreation (1.4/1.3) and MasterChef Junior (1.6).
Let's take a look at the fall 2014 season (the twenty-ninth overall) of
Survivor on CBS.
WHAT MATTERS:
- FINALS UPDATE: The Bachelor (2.3) adjusted up to a new season high, while Sleepy Hollow (1.5) was also up. That put both shows up two tenths from last week.
- On the final Monday before February sweeps, CBS sat out its regular lineup. But it still had pretty normal numbers in the 8/7c hour thanks to the Super Bowl's Greatest Commercials special (2.1). This was the best number for the special since 2010 (it's hit either 1.9 or 2.0 each of the last four years).
- All of the night's originals changed by exactly one tenth from last week:
- Fox preliminarily saw Gotham (2.1) inch down to a new low and Sleepy Hollow (1.4) inch up from last week's low.
- NBC's Celebrity Apprentice (1.8) and State of Affairs (1.0) were each down a tenth, with State unable to benefit from both competing dramas going into repeats.
- ABC had minor growth from The Bachelor (2.2), back to a tie with its season premiere.
- And the CW upticked with The Originals (0.7) and Jane the Virgin (0.6), both of which would tie season highs if they hold in finals.
WHAT MATTERS:
- The last Sunday in January isn't defined by one big event but rather by a series of small ones. The only one on broadcast was NBC's Miss Universe (2.0), which more than doubled its ratings from last year when it aired on Saturday. (It was slightly above its last weeknight airing, a 1.8 in late December two years ago.) But ESPN will likely win the night with the NFL's Pro Bowl, and the Turner networks had the Screen Actors Guild awards.
- Though none of these events should be all that big of a deal, it was still a very quiet night for the entertainment programming on the other three networks:
- CBS had a special Undercover Boss (1.5) which was pretty close to its normal Friday numbers, and two episodes of CSI (1.2/1.3) did no better than the show's usual delivery in the 10/9c hour.
- ABC saw small, probably-not-enough rallies for the finales of Galavant (1.1) and Resurrection (1.0), and no rally for Revenge (0.9). They came after a season high 1.7 from America's Funniest Home Videos, which might have benefited from the debut of afternoon NBA games on ABC.
- And with NFL help gone, Fox's comedy lineup bombed, as The Simpsons (1.4), Brooklyn Nine-Nine (1.2) and Family Guy (1.6) all crashed to season lows.
WHAT MATTERS:
- UFC (1.2) was up a tenth from the last Fox telecast in December but down three tenths from the same night last year. It dominated NBC's US Figure Skating Championships (0.5), down from a 0.7 last year.
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